Kit Kittredge: An American Girl

Refreshingly earnest and surprisingly moving, KIT KITTREDGE: AN AMERICAN GIRL is family fare that's anything but basic. Though the plot is fairly standard -- a feisty young girl encounters hardships but finds the sunny side of the street with the help of supportive, loving parents and friends and her own unshakable faith in mankind -- it aims for depth. The movie's efforts to educate audiences about the Great Depression are admirable (a few Depression scenes actually get a bit gloomy, which might briefly unsettle young viewers). And it manages to inform without losing its sense of fun. Kudos are largely due to Breslin, who embraces the role of determined Kit with gusto, though the rest of the cast is strong, too (Cusack is uproarious, as usual).

But among the characters, only Kit seems particularly multi-dimensional. Ormond does her best with the quietly suffering mother role, and although O'Donnell still has lots of presence, he doesn't get to do much here except twirl Kit around whenever he comes home. Some purists may balk at the sets as well -- though laden with period details, they still look somewhat modern on the big screen. Kit's street still seems like a present-day Cincinnati neighborhood, though not for lack of trying. Still, in the end, it's hard not to be affected by this charming adventure.